BHOPAL: In a shocking incident, a man set her 25-year-old wife on fire allegedly over dowry in Ratibad. The victim has sustained 80 per cent burns and her condition is serious, said police.
Threatening her husband, the woman had poured kerosene on herself; the man, saying that he would help her die since she was so willing to do so, threw a burning matchstick on her.
The incident took place on Saturday night. Ratibad the police have booked the accused under Sections 498 A and 307 of the IPC.
City Superintendent of police (CSP) T T Nagar, Umesh Tiwari said the victim, Preeti Malviya, a resident of††Neelbad, got married to Arjun Malviya two years ago. She worked as a sanitation worker in Haq hospital, and her husband is a labourer. Arjun would often quarrel with his wife over dowry. The woman was allegedly pressurised to bring money from her parents and this would often lead to fights between the couple.
On the day of the incident, the couple had again entered into a verbal spat in front of their relatives who were visiting them.
During the argument, in a fit of rage, Preeti brought kerosene and poured it over herself. She then threatened Arjun that she would light herself up if he again pressurized and fought with her, CSP said. To show that she was quite serious about her threat and would harm herself, the woman even tried to light up a matchstick. However, as the fan in the room was on, the matchstick did not light up. The man, who was furious by now, snatched the matchstick saying that since she was so willing to die, he would help her.
Before their relatives could understand anything, Arjun lit the matchstick and threw it on his wife who was soaked in kerosene, said Tiwari.
Seeing her up in flames, Arjun and others doused the flames and wrapped her in a blanket and then rushed her to hospital. The woman has sustained over 80 per cent burns and her condition is serious, said CSP.
